


From Dusk to Dawn

by SenjuMizusaya



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Dark, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Female Seth Sorenson, Gen, Genderswap, Kissing, PTSD, Post-Canon, Romance, Seduction to the Dark Side, because after all they've been through it's bound to be, everybody is a bamf basically, this assumes dragonwatch either doesn't happen or happens later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-08-19 10:57:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20208625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SenjuMizusaya/pseuds/SenjuMizusaya
Summary: After creating a new demon prison, all which remained to combat was a small cell of Society loyalists who were out to satisfy their need for revenge and apprehend the Artifacts before they could be relocated.And among them were foes they had thought no longer to be alive....





	From Dusk to Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is good. 
> 
> Up until it isn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fem!Seth just happened because I love her so much. I'm going to marry her and then probably die because she learns how to radiate fear and I end up having a heart attack. 
> 
> I almost made it male!Kendra but didn't. I don't know why. I probably should have. 
> 
> I aim to have both Kendra and Seth POVs, though in third person as always. The beginning of the chapter is a neutral perspective, though, and slowly we descend into Kendra's world.

From a distance, the Sorenson sisters did not bear much resemblance to one another. The eldest had height to back any authority being a big sibling endowed one with, her slender stature almost elflike in appearance, what with her spidery fingers and long legs. Kendra Sorenson was sixteen years old and cheekbones were starting to hint from a face which had previously been softened by youth, and training had ensured that though naturally slim, lithe muscles prevented her from looking fragile. (This was backed by a streak of determination running so deep it would've shattered a cliff, though now it only gave her a stubborn jut to the chin.) Contrary to her clean, careful appearance -this enhanced by a flickering gaze and neat yet practical clothes, usually involving a simple blouse and braid- rough, hard callouses adorned her hands, the result of spending hours and hours with a longbow whose refined, elegant cut belied its sturdiness. Though her pale, full lips were usually almost imperceptibly parted, whenever she disagreed or felt the need to argue a point, they would draw into a tight, hard line. There was a dusting of pale freckles shying over the bridge of her nose, only ever visible during early summer when the sun made them darker but a slight tan had yet to wash them out. 

The younger of the two called them her funny little sand corns. 

Cosette "Seth" Sorenson was the sort of sister who nullified any illusion of being subservient to the older sibling simply by existing. With mischievously arched brows and eyes rendered by sharp by often being narrowed (whether that be because of a grin or concentration, it did not matter), she was the type of person every teacher labeled as trouble maker before term had as much as started. (Neither did she listen to the name her parents had derived from the 1800s-type feminine character Cosette from _Les Miserables_.) Whereas Kendra had delicate shoulders and narrow hips, Seth boasted more muscles due to the fact that the time they weren't training, Kendra spent either sunbathing or reading (at the pool for leisure, in her attic room for information) while the younger of the two would spend that time sneaking into the very much forbidden reserve, bounding down the slithering path, heaving herself up rocks and ledges, scrambling through the verdant canopies of the trees and crawling through the bushes. On top of that, she had a naturally more sturdy, curvy build which she was still only starting to grow into. 

They had the same eyes, however, a watery blue hue specked with sapphires. On Kendra, who had a darker shade of brown hair which spilled past her shoulders like milk chocolate, they seemed the color of a spring sky, while on Seth, whose hair was a mousy brown, they deceivingly appeared to be a shade closer to gray. They also shared the same delicately straight, sharp nose, as well as the same pointy ears which didn't look good with any type of earrings.

Kendra was perched upon a chair at the table outside (the day was too fine not to eat lunch in the sun), engrossed in a tome briefly describing the myriad of different territories and areas in Fablehaven, what creatures lived where and where one was never to trespass, where one was only to venture if certain death was the only other alternative, where going was highly forbidden, where strolling through was a no-go and where it was only extremely discouraged to be. It was informative, though she took the added warnings with a nip of salt. Most places she agreed should be left alone, but if even the safe area surrounding the (undaneiably dangerous) Pond where the Fairy Shrine was located was labeled extremely dangerous...

It was clearly an old book, either way, because a safe, rocky area had been marked as lethal, to which Grandpa Stan informed her it had once belonged cave trolls which had moved out of Fablehaven well over a hundred years ago.

She flipped a page, starting on a chapter concerning the _Mysteries of the Grove at Four Hills_. Below the curling heading, there was a chilling sketch which, though accurate, was cold and gloomy with dark, hasty lines giving it a shadowed appearance. The sight stirred memories. 

A twig snapped ominously and her head shot up, erratic azure eyes flitting about, head curving and twisting to look around her. There was nobody there, though frost still stung in her veins and the hairs on the back of her neck tingled. 

"And the dame in the piss-yellow top scans the perimeters for her mysterious pursuer in a panic-stricken frenzy," a dramatic voice whispered from nearby, and Kendra's cheeks suffused with pink, both from irritation and at the insult at her very much pretty and flattering banana-yellow top which brought out her hesitant tan. She snapped her book close.

The voice continued in an equally dramatic hiss: "And the dame in the piss-yellow top grits her pearly white teeth at the mortifying realization she's been snuck upon by an adversary."

Squinting, she peered toward the slight shadow cast by the house to her immediate left, scanning the darkened area. No, the voice had come from much nearer even though there were no shadows close to her.

"And thus the dame in the piss-yellow top draws the humiliating conclusion that alas, she hath better focus on her training more to prevent any untimely assassinations instead of burying herself in worthless old-" 

Full lips tightened into a bloodless line as she kicked her feet out, having located the voice. 

"Ooof," came a partially stifled groan as her foot connected harshly with something soft which jerked away at the impact. 

Seth came crawling out from beneath the linen-covered table, bare feet first, followed by green cargo-pants which clung to her hips in a way nothing quite clung to Kendra, and finally a gray shirt and a face contorted into one of mock theatrics. "That hurt! I'm an endangered species, you know, you should be careful. I bet you wouldn't do that to Bracken." 

"Don't worry," Kendra assured, not falling for the Bracken bait, "the Sphinx won't die anytime soon, so Shadow Charmers won't die out when you get eaten." 

Seth gesticulated like an actor would during a Shakespeare play: "Should I perish, the species Sethus Sorensonus shall never wander the globe again, never to save the day with her-" 

Aggravation spurred her to interrupt: "Dark powers granted by deceitful demons?" 

"-awesome courage," she insisted. 

"I don't think the word awesome fits into your new vocabulary," the darker-haired girl hinted. "How about lionhearted idiocy?" 

"Lionhearted boldness," Seth bargained. "With some wit and daring too, please." 

Seeing no point in inflating her sister's already generous ego, she asked: "How long were you beneath the table?"

"A good fifteen minutes." She was fighting a satisfied grin with such obvious futility that it was more infuriating than had she openly gloated it. "Had to make sure you were completely relaxed." 

"Don't you have better things to do?" 

"Don't _you_?" 

"I was busy reading those better things, as a matter of fact." 

"I'm sure there were a lot of matters of fact in that old bible." 

"I'll have you know that yes, there were," Kendra defended the book valiantly against her sister's scorn of readable material. "I was just reading about- cave trolls." 

"There are cave trolls in Fablehaven?" Seth tried to feign indifference, but the moment of piqued interest had already fluttered across her features and given her away. 

"No." 

"You're just saying that to make sure I won't try to talk to them." 

"If you'd taken the time to read this, you'd know yourself." 

"You can't trick me into reading. You've probably put a fairy spell on the book to make me read the rest of my life." 

Kendra shot her an incredulous, flat look. "Sure, you caught me. I'm an expert and welding fairy magic to ensnare innocent girls into spending their lives with books." 

It had been a full year since the opening of Zzyzx, and though the worst nightmares had abated, everybody she knew had changed over the past few years. Nobody had stopped eating or something similarly drastic, but occasionally it became evident that just about everyone had grown more suspicious and wary, even when it came to jokes. She hoped it would get better when the last group of Society members -too small to have a threatening network, too big not to be dealt with as a priority- were apprehended. Or at the very least, it would bring her a sense of closure, of justice. Making sure they would never rise to hurt people again.

(Not quite revenge but still, it was a close call.) 

Seth's newfound almost-maturity came in bursts, but there was no denying that of those around Kendra, her sister had undergone the most change. She supposed it made sense: Seth was growing up either way, and had been through traumas despite what her flippant attitude tried to portray. 

Kendra wondered how much she had changed over the past three years. She'd be turning seventeen in a month, and couldn't help but to remember the girl who'd been ready to retch at the mere sight of the glob prisoners in the dungeon ate, the girl who'd been hesitant to pick up arms and maim, _kill_, the girl who'd been worried about tics and raw meat. The girl who'd been worried about a pimple. 

She wondered where that girl went, wondered when she'd hardened into somebody who wouldn't hesitate to shoot down a foe. 

Seth plopped into the chair next to her, an arm thrown over the backrest and face turned up to the sun to try drizzle a tan onto her pale features. Her hair was uneven and choppy, reaching her shoulders with tangles almost making it appear voluminous, a few thin, tight braids hinting in the sandy brown mess. 

Kendra's hand almost instinctively shot up to smoothen her own hair, which shared its sibling's penchant for knotting and frizzing whenever possible. It remained in its sleek waterfall braid without any unwanted bushiness around her neck and shoulders. 

"Always knew you'd try to trick me," Seth complained, but then smiled so sharply it was almost a smirk. "Did I scare you?" 

"Was there something to be scared of?" Kendra countered, opening the book again and leading through the pages before finding the one on cave trolls, reading despite having already covered that page earlier that day.

"I'm pretty scary." Kendra could hear the smugness drip from the words, thick and heady like syrup. "That's what happens when you kill demons." 

Mood fouled and having woken up with no patience, Kendra murmured: "But I killed Gorgrog, so I'd say I'm more terrifying." 

"That's a low blow." 

It was. Though Seth had matured, Kendra figured she had a long way to go if she was still upset of not having killed the demon king herself. Even with Vasilis in hand, Kendra had not enjoyed it: she'd been relieved when it was all over, and a certain sense of satisfaction had washed over her, but there had been no glee, no rush of triumph. Vasilis had been brought back only three weeks ago, together with the wraith which had watched over the manor where her parents now lived. Clearly the adventure which had followed -retrieving an artifact from an grand garden only permitting humans to enter- not to mention having audienced with the Singing Sisters themselves, had not filled Seth's adventuring quota for long. The younger sister had been back for only nine days but boredom was clearly getting to her: Kendra knew she'd tried to remedy it by turning every training (_everything_, really) into a competition against her sister and herself, and it was partially because of all the sudden rivalry and intensity that Kendra felt worn out and tired of bickering, bantering and brawling. 

"That doesn't make it less valid." 

"I killed more demons, though." 

Kendra snapped her book shut again and turned to her sister, jaw tight and eyes hard. Seth's face was one of childish doggedness. Kendra felt a flicker of flames lick along her veins, scorching their way forward. "Will you stop bragging about that? It was a horrible night after many horrible days and you try to make light of it?" 

"Well, I'd say _you_ were the one to make light that day-" 

"Seth, _please_," Kendra ground out, and the tone made it clear she wasn't begging. 

It was quiet for a whole minute, and then Seth muttered: "You don't have to read that just to pretend you'd been reading about cave trolls before I scared you." 

Kendra glanced up with genuine surprise. "What?" 

"I mean, I was under the table for fifteen minutes, so you'd have come much further than page thirteen." 

"You can't have been there for that long," she countered, steering the focus away from the book. "Your perception of time is always wrong when you're bored or waiting." 

"_My perception of time_," she mused with a nasty expression, turning to her sister and dramatically declaring: "And the dame in the piss-yellow blouse strikes back with fancy words to feel superior to her sister's intellect!" 

Kendra took a deep breath, calming her bristling nerves. She hadn't slept well lately: though her nightmares had mostly disappeared, occasionally they'd resurface and that was what had happened the last few nights. Usually they involved candy cotton, but instead of being stolen she shared it with everybody, only for everyone to start dying and the candy cotton turning into laughing goo. _You stupid, naive girl_, it would say, _we'll always be here and you'll always be afraid_.

She told herself she shouldn't get this upset because of some banter, and on top of that, Seth couldn't hall that she had the emotional understanding of a teaspoon. As the older, wiser and more intellectually and emotionally mature sister, Kendra resolved to be the bigger person. 

"No, I'm not," she stated patiently. "I'm just trying to make a point." 

"You didn't do it very well. And you've obviously read those pages already, you're not a smoooth conversation turner."

Kendra's attempt at being her better self was dust in the wind. "Will you just stop it? You're being ridiculous."

"I'm ridiculous?" Seth arched an eyebrow, tapping the cutlery with her nails and making metallic _ting ting ting ting _sounds. "I'm not the one bullying my sister about demon kings. Or being petty about what she'd been reading about, for that matter." 

Why _had_ she lied about what she'd been reading about? What had the point of that been? 

Seth's nails went _ting ting ting ting_ ting against the fork. 

"I'm not the one with a death wish at least, nor do sit under the table for fifteen minutes just to give someone a good scare." 

"So you admit that it really was fifteen minutes and not my perception of time being faulty?" 

"That- that has nothing to do with this, don't change the subject," Kendra objected, gathering her wits after having them knocked down by her sister's lawyer-mode. Her nails kept on ticking against the handle of the fork. "All I'm saying is that I don't go around hiding beneath tables long enough to make people relax before scaring them." 

"No, you just kill them with your superior intellect or bewitch them with fairy magic, making them devour books." 

Tired of the pointless argument -_another_ competition- Kendra snapped: "Yes, I do. And if you're not careful I'll end up making the books devour _you_ instead. And stop that ticking!" 

"Scary." Seth was unimpressed, but the ticking stopped in favor of arms being crossed. Kendra's lips tightened. "If I had awesome powers I wouldn't waste them on books-" 

"You have an awesome power called a brain, Seth, and it's wasting away at the moment."

The girl in question regarded her sister for a moment, pale blue eyes cooling rapidly and expressions ebbing away from an increasingly neutral face, then stood up, said "if the dame in the piss-yellow blouse who can't admit to what page she'd been on says so" and walked away. 

After a moment Kendra called out toward the retreating back: "My blouse is _banana_ yellow!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to reading! Expect the plot and Seth in the next chapter.


End file.
